The digital divide has turned music into a nameless, faceless entity. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, we used to spend hours listening to records while pouring over the artwork, absorbing the entire experience as one. We knew every musician in every band, every song title, every lyric, whereas now (due to devices such as the iPod shuffle, which holds thousands of songs but doesn’t display any information) we barely know the name of the band, let alone the musicians, song titles or words.

This phase-out of imagery and text first happened with the advent of the compact disc. Suddenly text was smaller, as was the cover art. CDs somehow miniaturized the process. The experience is now reduced to a tiny canister of song, all seemingly flowing from a continuum with unknown origin.

What does this mean for music? I believe it contributes directly to music piracy, as the absence of liner notes, artwork and photographs detaches us from the creators. It also opens a possible floodgate of musical plagiarism and copyright infringement. After all, isn’t it easier to steal from those we don’t know?

This new faceless, nameless landscape also makes it harder for musicians to gain recognition for their work. Our music has become more like Musak, a soundtrack without a known creator. This is dangerous.

But perhaps this development also brings music back to its roots, away from the dependence on imagery. After all, how often do we read the book, see the movie, and think, “Man, that’s exactly what I pictured”? It rarely happens. Maybe music does belong solely as an aural experience, as we do not always know which bird produces the song, we only know whether it’s beautiful or obtrusive. Does the digitization of music level the playing field? It may take decades to find out. 

You Should Also Check Out This Post:

More Active Posts: